Ostara was founded in 2005 and its core technology solution, which was developed at the University of British Columbia, removes phosphorus and other pollutants from wastewater and recycles them into environmentally safe commercial fertilizer that the company markets under the name Crystal Green. Ostara’s first commercial-scale plant began operating in Edmonton, Alberta in 2007 and the company’s first commercial-scale plant in the U.S. will begin operating in the spring of 2009 at the Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility. Ostara will use its new financing to speed the commercialization of its technology to municipalities, ethanol biofuel plants, and food processing plants in the U.S. and Canada at which successful field trials have been completed.

"Over the past year, we have successfully demonstrated in a large commercial plant that our process handles sewage sludge liquids in a way that reduces operating costs, increases overall plant capacity, complies with environmental regulations and produces revenue from byproduct," said Phillip Abrary, President and CEO of Ostara. "This equity investment from VantagePoint and Foursome will enable us to increase the pace of our deployment at additional wastewater treatment plants."

"We are enthusiastic about Ostara’s unique technology process as it takes waste from one industry and turns it into a high value product for another industry. This kind of technology is a great example of the kind of innovation that will define successful enterprises of the 21st century," said Rafael Simon, Venture Partner at VantagePoint and member of the Ostara Board of Directors.

"We are very excited about this investment and are looking forward to working with Phillip and his team," said Lydia Whyatt, Managing Director of Foursome Investments Ltd. "Nutrient recovery from waste streams is a key investment theme at Foursome, and we believe that Ostara has an excellent opportunity to become a major global player in the phosphorus recovery market."